I recently discovered that I have a Vanguard account, but I'm not sure what it is. I've managed to log into their site, but I can't find any mention of the actual type of account I have. Where would I be able to find out?
When I was born, my parents put $7000 into an investment account for me. It sat there untouched for forty-three years until I recently learned about it and checked on it. I'd been meaning to start investing to save for my retirement, and this seemed like a good place to start.
My excitement deflated pretty fast when I saw that the account had $19,000 in it. I mean, that's okay, I guess. That's $12,000 that I did absolutely nothing to earn, but...is that it? I could have picked that up by picking up overtime in a single year. There's no way that I could retire without being homeless if that's the kind of growth that investment brings.
In the two decades and change that I have left to work in, is there any way that I could possibly invest enough money to retire on, or is investment for retirement only efficient above a certain income level?